Second Chances
by starlinshadow
Summary: WIP WillowSeverus pairing. The Dark Lord has been defeated. The Intiative is back. Where are the remaining Death Eaters? Where else? Sunnydale.
1. Default Chapter

Title: Second Chances

Author: starlinshadow

Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy characters, nor do I own Harry Potter characters. People a lot richer than I have that honor. Also I have read a lot of crossover fanfiction, so if I accidentally borrowed something from someone, I probably didn't know it, but the premise and the story I have written are mine! The characters are still not mine.

Warning: Beware of out-of-character characters and an angsty Sev, both of which I love to write and read.

Time Frame: Okay, this is really an AU. For Buffy it is after season five, but Tara never existed, Glory was defeated, Buffy never died, and season six didn't happen, but Spike has his soul. I think he got it to prove to Buffy that he was good enough, much like he did in canon. For Harry Potter all you need to know is that Voldemort was defeated. It is AU completely. It might make vague references to things that have happened, but since Potter had graduated and the golden trio is not there anymore, I don't really plan to add them. The only real characters from Harry Potter that are in this story are Sev and Albus. Remus is mentioned, but the important characters are Sev, Albus, and well I supposed the Death Eaters. Others may come, I don't know. Okay, now onto the story.

S

There was snow in the ground and stressed out students in the Hall. Exams were mere weeks away and it was almost Christmas break. There was perhaps a month before the end of first term. This term had been very different than previous terms. They, of course, had a new DADA teacher. The thing that was the most different was that there was no Voldemort. Harry Potter and his trio, along with Dumbledore, Professor Snape and some other key order members, had defeated the dark wizard during the summer after his seventh year. That was also a difference in this year: no Harry Potter, no Gryffindor trio. It was understood that when Potter graduated the university, he was going to be allowed to come back to Hogwarts and teach in the DADA position if he so desired. The new teacher was only going to be there for four years or so, unless she changed to a different position. But given her age, it was probably best that she not be expected to stay trapped in this dark prison of a school. Professor Snape sat at the table with the rest of the Hogwarts Professors coyly glancing at the newest professor, a Miss Willow Rosenberg, from Sunnydale California (a Hellmouth no less). She was very interesting to Snape, though he would never admit it to anyone. She was nice to everyone she spoke with. She had cheerfully said hi to him when they first meant but he had snubbed her as he did everyone—it was better to be alone right?

But watching her out of the corner of his eye he could see her cheerful chatter as she explained something to one of the professors. She radiated energy and light. She was a wandless witch, something practically unheard of in the wizarding community. Her power, her control…It was something that Snape was drawn to: her beauty and her passion. It was obvious that she cared for the students. She was very intelligent, and she was beautiful. Snape hated that he felt drawn to her. However, what he hated most was that he didn't know what to do about it.

Sometimes he wished he had been nicer to her that first day, because now she avoided him. Not outwardly, but he knew she wouldn't want to talk to him; no one really wanted to. Dumbledore was glad that he had been a spy and helped the Order but other than that no one really wanted him around. The students hated him, of course that was mostly his own doing… The students loved her. She told them wonderful stories about slayers and vampires and good triumphing over evil.

Snape, in route to Dumbledore's office had passed by her classroom and over heard a bit of an interesting tale.

"To defeat Adam, we had to join forces. All of us Buffy, Xander, Giles, and me, together we used our energy to call on the power of the first Slayer. The point is sometimes the greatest weapon you have against a dark force is a united front of good. Sometimes your friends are the ones that help you the most. Even when you think that there is no hope. Nothing is cut and dried. Many times we had to rely on each other. Buffy's identity was supposed to be a secret, but somehow people just kept finding out… Next time we will talk about the highs and lows of keeping a secret identity."

Did she even realize how rare a support system like that was, he thought. He had never had such a thing in his childhood. People had made his life a living hell. As an adult he had made some wrong choices. He thought that he had found a family of sorts--somewhere that he could be accepted. He didn't realize what he was getting into. Sometimes he felt so tired. He wished he had someone to share his pain with--to share his past.

His gaze once more drifted back to Professor Rosenberg, Willow…

S

"Good morning class, how are you all today?" Willow greeted her class cheerfully. After Oz had left and the Initiative had been wiped out and then the Scoobies kicked Glory's ass, it had been time to move on. Her powers had reached a place where learning more control was absolutely necessary. The invitation issued to her through Giles was a Godsend, now she could use her experiences and learn more about control. All the people here were so nice—the students were brilliant, for the most part, and they loved her class, they didn't complain too much about any other class with one exception, Potions with Professor Snape in the dungeons. Snape, she shuddered. He was the only really scary person she had meant here. Pain and control just radiated off of him—and anger, that was all that most of the students saw, the anger. He hid behind it. She expected that he was very lonely, but the one time she had approached him to say hi, he deliberately ignored her, refusing to acknowledge even her presence. Well, if he was going to be so grumpy, then fine—opps, she thought, she had been daydreaming, time to start class.

"Okay, we have been talking about vampires for the past couple of weeks, and I have just been informed that my request to bring in a real vamp has been accepted, my friend Spike also known as William the Bloody will be coming in a week. He will be talking to you about being a vampire on both the good and evil side and also give you another perspective of working with the Scooby gang. But since Spike is coming next week I think that we will switch around the lessons and discuss vengeance demons, and why they are BAD NEWS. I am going to start with a story about the first time I meant a vengeance demon and the chaos they exude."

Willow went on to explain about Anyanka. She then explained that the wish can only be counteracted by the vengeance demon herself, or by striping the demon of their powers there by essentially creating the human that once was.

The truth was that as much as Snape scared her, she thought that he was still a very interesting person and Willow found herself thinking about him a lot more than she would like.

S

He wished he could tell her how he felt, Snape thought as he walked down the hall towards his potions classroom, but he knew that he could only expect rejection. Like everyone else, she would look at him in horror. Not that Snape really knew how he was feeling. With the war over, he thought that he would have more freedom in his life, yet it seemed he was still trapped. He was trapped by this school and the past.

"You expect us to expect nice to that?" Snape could still here the words from Potter's mouth, when Lily had asked him to be nicer to Snape. He had never been good enough when he was young. Now he was old, a good 20 years older than her—than Willow. He could only imagine—no he didn't dare imagine that she would speak to him, let alone allow him to touch her. His façade in place he stalked into his potions class ready to take his frustrations out on the students.

One night while patrolling in the Astronomy Tower he looked out over the night and he saw her walking outside in the dark, she was walking with Remus. He hated Remus the same as Remus hated him. Many times in their childhood had lead to this hatred, but it seemed that once again Snape would not be the winner. Not that he was ever in the game, but hell, Remus was the same age as him and Remus was part werewolf. He watched from the shadows of the balcony, her red hair shimmering in the moonlight, her arm curled around Remus'. She was laughing at something he had said. Severus knew that he could never make her laugh—he didn't have a right to try with all the terrible things he had done. He was trying to make amends—trying but he knew he never would. His soul had burned away, and now no one could save it—who would even want to try anyway; no one wanted to be around him—ever. With that he turned away, but something called him to take one last look at her laughing in the moonlight—he had to go now; he had to finish the rounds.

S

Willow checked her cell phone and saw that Buffy had left a message she had charmed her cell phone so that she could still make calls to Buffy and the gang. She knew that she had made the right choice in leaving, but she also knew that she could never refuse to help them at any time. They were the Scooby gang and she knew that they would end up together no matter what. She ducked into an unused classroom to make the call. After she finished teaching here she would return to Sunnydale, she had always known that, she just didn't expect it to be so soon…

"What do you mean he just left? He isn't supposed to come here until next week!" Willow exclaimed.

"Wills, I don't think that he left, I think that he was kid..er..vampnapped."

"But who?"

"I went to Willy's to get some info, cause you know after the soul and everything I know that Spike was serious about loving me, so we started a relationship and everything had been going well. He just didn't show up for our date last night. And that is just not like him. You know Spike—he's loyal to those he cares about. Anyway, I went to Willy's and I heard some disturbing things. Willow…I think that the Initiative is back, and I think that they've got Spike…"

"Well what are we going to do? And what do you mean they're back? Like they are trying what they did before? Or they are trying something new…"

"I don't know! It took all of us before to infiltrate their headquarters and that is when they were going down the tubes. What are we going to do? We can't leave Spike there!"

"Buffy, if they do have Spike, are you sure that he's…well…still alive?"

"I don't know, Willow I need you here, with your magic and your mind."

"Buffy I can't just leave in the middle of the school year…look I'll figure something out. You just sit tight, okay? I'll call you back tomorrow."

Willow hung up the phone. "It looks like research girl is back in the game."

Snape was walking to his office when he heard voices coming from one of the smaller classrooms that were never used. As he crept closer thinking to find some annoying students out of bed he recognized Willow's voice.

"Buffy I can't just leave in the middle of the school year…look I'll figure something out. You just sit tight okay, I'll call you back tomorrow. It looks like research girl is back in the game…"

She's leaving, he thought. No she can't leave. I haven't had the chance to…To what, Severus? To do nothing you know she wouldn't date the likes of you anyway. She's twenty years your junior!

"Who's there?" Willow peered into the hallway. Then she saw his shadowy figure, lurking by the door, like the great bat that the students dubbed him. "Oh, Professor Snape…um" She stood there for a moment looking at him and biting her lip. She knew that she needed help to deal with this problem. She wondered if Snape was someone she could trust. She seemed to come to a decision. "Do you know if there is way to do magic from long distances?"

Severus looked at her stunned for a moment. "Magic from a distance? What do you mean? Like what kind of magic?"

"Um, a locator spell. I've done them but only in the same town as the person I was trying to locate, but I need to do one for a person that is in America. Perhaps in Sunnydale, but we are not even sure that he is there."

Here's your chance Severus, old boy, you can help her be her knight in…wait he?

"He?" Snape asked.

Willow gave him a long thoughtful look as if debating on what to say. Then she looked at him, "The Scooby gang needs my help. Sit down this may take awhile." And Willow proceeded to explain to him about the Sunnydale crew and a brief overview of some of their adventures.

"So, you need to help the slayer save a souled vampire?"

"Well, yes, but it's more than that. The Initiative is bad news. Almost three years ago now, the government tired to create the Initiative to figure out how to get a leash on the overwhelming demon problem. Only the creator wanted to do more than that she wanted to create a super-being, one that she named Adam, she couldn't control it and it killed her, but not before it took over the Initiative. A lot of people got hurt. After we defeated Adam, supposedly, the Initiative was destroyed, but if they are back there is no telling what could happen. What's worse they don't discriminate. My ex-boyfriend was captured by them and they ran experiments on him, just because he was a werewolf. They didn't understand that he was a perfectly normal teenager except for a few days out of the month…"

Severus stood there shocked for a moment, trying to grasp the concept of this sweet girl going out with a werewolf. That may have explained her friendship with Lupin, whom she had met when he had came to Hogwarts to talk with the Headmaster about Harry. Like maybe if she could live with something like that then she could live with some of the things that he's done…no, he shook his head. "Well I suppose we could try to do a locator spell from here, but it would take more than one person."

Why do you want to help her? Severus thought. It's not like there is anything that you are going to gain from this. She only asked you because you were here and because you have magical ability, not because she likes you or anything…

"Okay well what kind of map will we need? Usually I just use a town map, but I am not sure if that will work from way over here."

"If he's in the town it will work. Even though we are over here, we are still searching that particular town, so if you have a town map that would be best."

"Well I'll ask Buffy to send one. I'll send an owl over. Do I need anything else of his?"

"Well since he is a vampire something of his would be useful, we can't locate the life force of someone who is dead. But you said had a soul, so we could look for his soul, but it would all be a lot easier with a personal artifact of his."

"Okay, no problem, Buffy and Spike are dating now, so I would guess that she'd have something of his around, he would want her reminded of him, and not Angel. So when are we going to do the spell, tomorrow? I can call Buffy back tonight and send the owl for her to send the stuff."

"Professor Rosenberg, what are you going to do if the Initiative is back?" Severus asked, wondering why he asked even as he uttered the words. He didn't want her to leave. At least while she was here he could watch her and imagine…but all the way over in Sunnydale, she would be out of sight as well as out of reach…

"What can I do? I have obligations here. I have already told them that I am coming home for Christmas break and also, summer of course, but the Big Bad does not wait until then. First priority is to find out where Spike is. After that Buffy will find out if indeed the Initiative is back and what they are up to. The bad thing about it is that the Initiative knows about Buffy being the Slayer, thanks to her little love fest with Riley the commando. I want to do some research, but I haven't had time to work on getting my computer to work here, let alone the Internet. Have you had any luck charming electronics here? It is awfully difficult."

"I have no use for such things, in fact I really don't know of what you are speaking."

"Ah I see, grew up in a wizarding family, eh? Well, I didn't understand that people here actually didn't use electronics, but I guess it makes sense, you have your owls and your magic and all of that, but there is nothing like the Internet to research current Big Bads, not to say that Giles' texts weren't the most useful for demon research. However the Initiative, probably isn't going to be in one of those, unless of course there is a prophecy or something equally disturbing."

Just then they were interrupted by Professor Dumbledore. "Ah Severus, Willow, just the two people I wanted to see."

"Yes Headmaster? What is it you wanted to see us about?" Willow asked. She couldn't think of what he needed to talk to her about. He didn't know about the problems with the Initiative, or anything really. He looked like a man who was sweet and all, but really didn't have a clue.

"If we could just go to my office, there is some rather urgent news that we must attend to right away."

The trio walked to the Headmasters office. Albus sat down at his desk and Severus and Willow sat in the chairs in front of his desk.

"With the fall of Voldemort, as you know, there has been a lot of unrest in the wizarding world. The Ministry rounded up most of the death eaters, but it has become apparent that a few have gotten by without the proper punishment. The ministry just didn't have enough proof against any wrong doing on their part. It has come to my attention that some of the death eaters have left the country. It is also come under some scrutiny that they have went to America and joined forces with a government agency. Usually that would not be any of our business, seeing as the American wizarding community should take over the watching of this, however being as most of them at one time or another attended Hogwarts, it would be best if one of us checked it out to make sure everything is normal, and no attack, that the wizarding world is most assuredly not ready to take on right now, occurs."

"Um, two questions," Willow tentatively said. "Who is Voldemort, and what is a death eater?"

Severus just stared at her for a moment. How could she not know about the Dark Lord and his followers? If she didn't know about them, then she didn't know about him either, the thought crept through his brain. She didn't know, he could be a normal person around her…but that thought was banished quickly, when Albus began the tale of Tom Riddle and ended with the ultimate demise.

"Wow, so you worked undercover?" Willow looked at him amazed. "That was really brave of you, to be a spy for that long. But," Willow said turning to Dumbledore, "what does all of this have to do with us. I can see why he should go and see about these rouge death hunters, he knows them, but why me? What am I doing here?"

"Ah funny you should ask, the government agency that is in question seems to be stationed in Sunnydale California."

"The Initiative…" Willow took a deep breath. "Okay so what are we going to do?"

"Well you and Severus will be taking a trip to Sunnydale."

"I guess I'd better call Buffy and tell her to expect company."

TBC


	2. Part Two

PART TWO

Two days later, Snape and Willow apperated together to the front yard of Buffy's house. Snape was not prepared for the pandemonium that greeted them.

Three people rushed out of the house as they landed in the front of an obviously muggle house.

"Willow!" A willowy dark haired girl probably about the age of the seventh years at Hogwarts barreled towards them to give Willow a hug.

"Wills!" A dark haired man in about his early twenties greeted them. "How have you been, how is magic school?"

"Xander, Dawn, Buffy! How are you guys!"

"I thought you couldn't just leave in the middle of the school year," a blonde haired girl smirked. She had obviously been hanging around Spike way too often. She was standing on the porch leaning against one of the white pillars.

"Ha ha. No actually I have some rather bad news, but I was asked to come here. Oh by the way everyone, this is Professor Severus Snape. Professor this is Dawn, Xander, and Buffy." He nodded at them, still quite unsure what to do. It was obvious that these people were close. He felt as though he were dropped in the middle of a story and he had never read the beginning.

"Xander, where's Anya?"

"Um, well Wills, we decided that it wasn't working out, she went back to being a vengeance demon and I decided I rather liked my life the way it was."

"But wait," Willow said as they all started moving into the house, "I thought that D'Hoffren wouldn't give her, her old job back."

"I guess he just changed his mind."

Buffy had made up one of the spare rooms for Willow, and Severus was to bunk with Xander down in the basement. Xander had moved in after the break up with Anya. He figured he could better help out by living there. Sure it was another basement, but what was important was that it was not his parents' basement, and he felt like a person who was helping rather than an encumbrance. Willow used her newly controlled powers to transfigure one of the chairs into a bed so that Severus had a place to sleep. Xander came downstairs while she was making up the bed.

"Wills, are you really doing alright?"

"Yes, Xander, I am fine, school is great!"

"Wills, it's me, you don't have to pretend. What's going on in your life?"

"Honestly, I love teaching and I love the school. I guess, I wasn't ready to be pulled out to fight the newest Big Bad. Plus now I am here, but it isn't just us, it's us and Snape, you know, and he knows about the slayage, but I am not sure he understands about the way our group works and all of that. It will be imperative if we have to fight the Initiative again."

Xander looked at her seriously for a moment as if he were debating saying something.

"We can't Willow."

"What do you mean?" Willow looked at him confused.

"We can't fight the Initiative again. We never really fought it before. What we fought was Adam. The Initiative destroyed itself, and if they do the same things again they will destroy themselves again…but we won't be able to stop them—they're human… They aren't some demons that Buffy can just cut off their heads."

"We can't just let them do that though. We need to save Spike and then find out what's going on. Maybe we should save our speculation for a time when we actually have some information."

Willow went upstairs to talk to Buffy and to set up the ingredients to do a locator spell. They needed to find out where Spike was. Then they could concentrate on the rising of the Initiative.

Buffy was in the kitchen washing some dishes or at least that what it looked like she was trying to do. What she was actually doing was staring out the small window in front of her with her hands immersed in the dishwater of the sink. She looked sad and a little lost. Willow walked into the kitchen and put her hand on Buffy's shoulder.

"Buffy, we'll find him. I'm going to set up now and do that spell. Do you have something of his that we can use to track him? Snape says that it will be easier to locate him with something of his to use, because generally the spell looks for the living essence of the person, but as a vampire he's not technically alive."

"I have a shirt of his. Will that be enough?"

"It should be." Willow gathered some of the supplies that she had stashed away in her bag. She began to form a circle with the candles. She then spread the map out in the middle of the circle. "I am going to find Snape now, I am not sure exactly sure how to use the personal artifact instead of the living essence and right now I don't have time to read up on it."

Willow found Severus in the living room looking at the blank TV screen.

"What is this used for?" He asked.

"Stories are acted out by people and then transmitted via satellite to people who wish to watch them. I'm ready to do the spell now. Do you think that you could come help because I don't know how to use the artifact and you do," Willow asked. She wanted to get this spell over with; she wanted to find Spike and then find out what the Initiative was up to. The sooner that they knew what was going on, the sooner they could do something about it.

Willow and Severus went into the dining room where the circle was already prepared. He laid the shirt over the map and then took out his wand. Whispering an incantation the shirt shrunk into the size of a very tiny person then moved over the map until it was…right in front of Buffy's house? Just then a leather clad vamp rushed into the house and slammed the door.

"Spike!" Buffy exclaimed, running to him and hugging him. Then she stepped back and punched him in the nose. "Where the hell, have you been?"

"OW! Bloody hell, woman. For your information I have been on the down low. Your buddy Finn is back! And he's got some black robed friends with him. They showed up at my crypt two nights ago, I've been on the run ever since. I circled back to make sure that they hadn't been here and the place wasn't being watched. It's not so far, but something weird is going on." Just then he caught sight of Willow and Severus.

"Hey, Red. I thought you were off at magic school. What're you doing here? And who's tall dark and broody there behind you? Man, you look like you could give peaches a run for his money."

"Spike, I am here because you were missing. Oh and a vague rumor that the Initiative is back has wormed its way even to Scotland. Oh and this is Professor Severus Snape. He may have some experience with the black robed guys that you saw. This is one of the reasons that Headmaster Dumbledore is concerned. Evidently the magic world had their own Big Bad and he was recently defeated, however some of his followers escaped punishment. It is now rumored that they have joined forces with an American government agency."

"Ah, let me guess," Buffy interjected, "the Initiative."

"Yep."

The room fell silent.

"Okay," Buffy broke the silence, "We've seen the Initiative before in action. But what about these black robed men? Willow said you had experience with them? What are they?" She asked turning to Snape.

Snape looked uncomfortable for a minute as all the eyes in the room were directed at him. He cleared his throat and scowled to cover up his discomfort. He crossed his arms, hugging them tightly to his body, "They are called Death Eaters. They are wizards that followed the dark lord, Voldemort, through his reign. They are, for the most part, pure blood wizards who think that pure bloods should rule the world. What doesn't make sense in this is why they would be with this agency. They hate muggles and anything to do with muggles. There has to be someone else behind all of this." Having spoken the most he had since he arrived in Sunnydale, he sighed. He didn't know what else to say. As a spy he had helped Dumbledore in the war, but he didn't know what else he could do about them now. They knew that he worked for the Order now; they would never trust him again. He was afraid that he would be of no help to Willow and that she would be disappointed. Who cares, he interjected in his mind, she is not important you are only here at the request of Dumbledore. Maybe while you are here you can find a different way to exist besides teaching, because you know how much you hate teaching.

"Great, Death Eaters, that sounds promising," Buffy said. "Why can't they ever have names like fluffy bunny people."

"Well that would have scared Anya you know," Willow said. "I think that it's all in perspective."

"Well I guess it's time to have a Scooby meeting," Buffy said. "We need to find out what the Initiative is up to and what these death guys are up to. I'll call Giles. Can you go talk to Xander. Magic Box?"

"Sounds good."

"Tell him we're looking for any books on death eaters and Voldemort. Even thought that guy is gone doesn't mean that there isn't some prophecy about these guys." Willow said.

"No problem."

A few short hours later Severus found himself seated around a table with a very large book reading up on Death Eaters and prophesies involving said beings. For the most part he was not reading anything he did not already know. However he thought that this was a book he could have used during the war. Miss Granger could have devoured it and quit asking him so many infernal questions. He looked around; the boy called Xander had brought pizza and doughnuts and was currently absorbed in one of the books on his lap. Personally Severus thought that the man was just pretending to read. He didn't think that the _History of Magical Beings_ was going to be much help as the Death Eaters were fairly new to the magical realm.

Willow was on her computer with Dawn looking up things about the Initiative. She was…googleing…he thought she had said, the terms about the Initiative. Buffy and Spike were not there. Evidently they had gone out to "patrol" and see what they could find in the field. Severus didn't understand why Spike would go after hiding out for a couple days, but he didn't know how to broach the subject. The way that these people worked together did not make him want to try to infiltrate their system anyway. They were obviously a very close knit group. Once again, he was the outsider.

Spike and Buffy stormed into the Magic Box in the middle of an obvious argument.

"Spike, you can't just go walking around town. You said it yourself, they're after you."

"No, your ex-honey is after me. I really don't think that the rest of the Initiative really gives two figs about me. It's all about Caption Cardboard. You know that."

"Ah Buffy," Willow said, "Do you think that Riley is behind the attacks on Spike?"

"Oh, I am sure of it, I just don't agree that Riley is the only threat to Spike. The rest of them know that he's a vampire. They don't know about the soul, but it wouldn't matter. You know they don't discriminate. Oh my gosh," Buffy cut herself off startled. "We have to call Angel."

"What do you mean? We do not need to talk to that poofter!"

"Spike, Riley knows about Angel too. Angel could be in trouble. He needs to be warned. Besides he might know something about what's going on. I'll give him a call later tonight."

Who is Angel? Snape thought, then shook his head, another vampire obviously. He just didn't want to know. How these people could trust such violent creatures, soul or no, he did not understand. Plenty of people had souls and were still evil. Hell, look at Riddle, or any of the Death Eaters. Hell, look at him, he had a soul when he chose the side of the dark. A soul was not a safeguard against violence; it just gave the person a conscience. If they didn't use it that was up to their discretion. Obviously this Spike person was a pretty special vamp, but Angel? Severus had heard of Angelus and didn't want to know if they were the same vampire or not. He imagined they were there couldn't be that many souled vampires out there, now could there?

Just then Willow squealed from across the table. "Guys I think I found something! Listen to this. 'Attention all soldiers. Do you believe in vampires? Werewolves? Things that go bump in the night? If so, there is a special taskforce is being set up to fight against the paranormal. Talk to your superior officer if you are interested.' This was posted about six months ago on a military discussion board. I hacked into their files. If you remember from before we had to get disks to have info, but I bet that they have an Intranet system that probably has a backdoor somewhere from the Internet. I highly doubt that they would be so backwards as to still carry everything around on disks. If I can just find it…but obviously we're on the right track right?"

"So they're recruiting openly this time. Isn't that kind of strange?" Xander spoke up, "From what I remember about being a solider, you are always told what to do and where to go. Asking military people if they want to join up, seems really really strange. If they are already in the military they would just be sent here if they government wanted them there. Either that post is a ploy, or someone is working from the inside…"

"Riley, it's gotta be. It all fits don't you think? He came back and found out that Spike and I were together and he thinks that I've gone off the deep end. He thinks that the world is no longer safe because, in his mind, I can't see the difference between good and evil anymore…so he decides the Initiative or some version of it needs to be started back up again." Buffy said.

"But what about Sam," Willow asked. "What happened to her? She seemed to be a very big part in Riley's life, and she also seemed mostly sane."

"Maybe she's in on it? You know like a husband wife squad," Dawn interjected cheerfully.

"Okay, let's say that Riley is behind it, regardless of whether on not Sam is involved, this means that it's back. The question now is, what exactly does he want it to do? He knows that this is my territory, regardless of what he thinks of my mental state."

"Oh dear," Giles said.

Everyone except Severus groaned. Willow looked over at him and his confused expression, "It's never good when Giles says, 'oh dear.' In fact it usually means an apocalypse."

"A child shall be born. He shall fight the demons, then be called by the darkness. He shall bring the remaining dark and fight against the Slayer."

"Um, Giles…" Buffy said. "That's not talking about Riley is it? Cause we really should have found that sooner if it was. He hasn't been around in like two years."

"Well, Buffy, I am not positive that this is discussing Riley, in fact this could be anyone, however, turning to the side of dark and fighting against the Slayer, is what I am concerned about, and "he shall bring the remaining dark" which perhaps could be these Death Eaters that you all have been discussing."

"Does it say when he and his army are going to be pitted against the Slayer?" Willow asked. She was still worried about her job at Hogwarts. She supposed that she could apperate and go back and forth if need be, but that took a lot of energy and with her mind already divided on her teaching and the slaying, the constant traveling might be problematic.

"At the rise of the new moon, the planets in alignment, the heat of summer, he will attack. All of the magic dark and light will collide, a more powerful force has not been known."

"What a load of crap, there's been lots more shit thrown at us than an army of soldiers. Maybe even a few powerful wizards."

"But Buffy, think about it," Willow said. "They are all human. Everything else you have fought can be killed. Humans have their own laws. You will have to incapacitate them, but you can't kill them. There are going to be too many. How will this work? The soldiers we can bring down with magic, but the Death Eaters? Even though they are wizards they are human. They belong in jail for their crimes, but you still can't kill them. It is not hard to think that they could be the most powerful force that we have fought for that reason alone. Xander, you were right. How are we going to fight them?"

Willow was a very smart girl. Snape came to that realization with a start. She knew what she was talking about. She was the brains of this outfit, without her, they would fall apart. They needed her. With that realization came another. If he wanted to be around her after she was done teaching at Hogwarts he would have to come here and he would have to become part of the Scooby gang. He couldn't see a place for himself here though. How was he supposed to fit in? They already had one old knowledgeable guy, that was Giles. They had a brain and witch—that was Willow, they had Joe normal, Xander, and they had brute strength, Buffy and Spike. With their tight knit group it did not seem that it would be easy to try to carve a place for himself. Did he really want to though? It wasn't as if Willow had ever given him any hope that she could think of him as anything more than a colleague, or even given him hope that she thought of him any more than necessary. He really didn't want to try, but if she was coming back here anyway would it hurt to try? Maybe against all odds, she would care for him just a little. Maybe he could join the group as something like 'Willow's boyfriend.' It didn't look like that place was filled by anyone yet.

There wasn't much more that Willow and Severus could do, the prophecy said "the heat of summer" and there were months between December and July or August. That was the problem with prophecies—no exact date. The next morning Willow, Buffy, Xander, and Dawn were all standing around in the kitchen, preparing for Willow's departure.

"So Wills, how are you really?" Buffy asked, in a moment of unusual insight.

"Really truly, fine. I love teaching—and I love not having to hide what I know. These children have had to keep their identity just as secret as you ever had to. They know what that means. They've gone trough some hard times—some of which I didn't know about, but I intend to look more into, especially with this new development."

"So, how's your love life," Dawn asked with a wave of her eyebrows.

"What love life? All the people I know are either too young or too old!"

"What about Sev?"

"Snape? Somehow, I don't think that he's interested."

"I don't know girl," Buffy said. "He was giving you some interesting looks."

"Snape? He looks like a vampire, Willow wouldn't get mixed up with someone like him," Xander said.

"Hey! I happen to be in a relationship with a vampire! Some vampires can be useful members of society!" Buffy said, thinking of something Anya had once said. Truth be told, no one seemed to know why exactly Anya had left. Xander seemed quieter after her departure. Willow wonder if she really went back to D'Hoffren, or if something else had happened.

"So speaks the _Vampire_ Slayer," Xander quipped.

Everyone laughed and at that moment, Snape walked in.

"We should depart shortly. I have a lesson to prepare and papers to grade." He stood stiffly looking uncomfortable in the bright kitchen.

Willow looked at her friends. "I'll be back over Christmas, in the meantime, I'll look for stuff about the Death Eaters and about the Initiative. I'll see what I can find at Hogwarts. You guys see what you can find with Giles. It looks like we have some time."

She hugged each one, and Dawn whispered in her ear, "He's watching you."

"Goodbye Dawnie. You and your delusional ways. I'll see you all soon. Buffy, watch out for the Initiative."

Snape stood with his arms crossed. He had been ready to try and feel out a relationship with Willow. He knew that he probably didn't have a chance, but he was willing to give it a go. He knew he probably didn't have a chance when the young woman's voice had stopped him. "He was giving you some interesting looks." When Willow said his name, he knew it was him that they were discussing. He had never thought he had a chance to begin with, but now it was almost certain. He must stop watching her, if even the obviously self involved woman saw such a thing, then even she must have noticed—she was too nice to just tell him that.

All he wanted to do was go back to his dark cold dungeons—the safe isolation that Hogwarts had always given him. He would avoid her—she would leave soon, he was sure that he could avoid talking to her for the next three years—if only he could just get home.


	3. Part Three and Four

PART THREE

After arriving back at Hogwarts, both Severus and Willow reported to Dumbelore's office. Albus was dressed in one of his crazier robes, with swirls of color (really swirling) splashed all over it. After the defeat of Voldemort, Albus had let his fashion sense get even crazier. Of course, Willow had no idea that this was worse than normal.

"Lemon drop?" Albus offered as they sat down.

"No thanks." Both Severus and Willow declined.

"What did you find in Sunnydale? Is there reason for alarm?"

"The Initative is back, but we don't know why. The death eaters are there too. We don't know what there purpose is, or how they are helping the Iniativive. We found a prophesy." Willow pulled out a slip of paper and handed it to him. "We think that this is referring to an upcoming battle. We know it is going to take place sometime in the summer, but we don't know when exactly or how. We think that a former Iniativie solider, Riley Finn, is behind this new organization, but we have no proof. My people are doing research at home, and I intend to do some here. We have to find out what this prophesy means, and where the rest of it is."

"What do you mean?" Albus looked at her a little confused. "This is the prophesy."

"Well, yes, but where is the outcome of the battle? There is always a prediction. We need to find out what is supposed to happen so we can stop it or help it along, depending on what the outcome is supposed to be. Also finding this version in another place will confirm that this is indeed a prophesy, and one meant for our lifetime as opposed to another slayer three hundred years from now."

He really is incompetent, isn't he? Willow thought inwardly shaking her head. She decided it didn't matter, because he was not going to be involved in the fight. The last thing the Scooby gang needed to have to do was keep track of a senile old wizard while trying to dodge lighting bolt attacks. Her thoughts shifted to Severus. He had been oddly quite the entire time that they had been back.

"Well, Severus, what do you think?"

"Headmaster, there is nothing we can do now but wait. I did not see any death eaters while I was in…Sunnydale, but that does not mean that they were not there. I could not feel anything, but the town was immersed in dark magic, so I do not know which was the death eaters and which was just the town itself."

"Yup. That's good old Sunnydale. The center of mystical convergence and all that," Willow said chirpily. "Don't worry. We will find the prophesy; we will defeat the bad guy and everything will be alright. It always is."

Willow stood up. "If you will both excuse me, I will be in the library." With that said, she turned and left the room, leaving the two wizards to converse.

The cheerful slightly dazed look slid off the headmaster's face. "Can we trust them Severus?"

The Potion's Master sat forward a little in his chair and folded his hands together. "They seem to know what they are doing. They seem to want to save the world."

"That is not what I asked. Are they trustworthy?"

"They are all like Willow, sir."

"Ah, capable of great darkness and great good? Which will they choose do you suppose?"

Had the Headmaster been possessed? Severus thought to himself. Willow was not capable of anything but happy laughter and good cheer. Dumbledore had finally lost his mind. It was official. He had helped the great Harry Potter defeat Voldemort, only to fall to the natural decay of the mind. This was a sad day indeed.

"Sir, Willow is not evil; she will never be evil. She is disgustingly on the side of light. It is obvious."

"Is it Severus?" The dim look had reappeared on Albus' face. "Lemon drop?"

Severus groaned. "I must go Headmaster. I have papers to grade." With that Severus swept out of the office.

The old man sat behind his desk stroking his long grey beard. "Severus, you will see, things are not always what they seem." He giggled and popped a lemon drop into his mouth.

In the library, Willow was having little luck finding anything on the prophecy. We need a name for the damn thing, she thought. Then we could actually use the index to find what we are looking for.

Snape sat in his dungeons staring at a glass of firewhiskey and the ungraded stack of papers on his coffee table. This was getting him nowhere. He had to find out what to do about this situation. What to do about his obsession. What to do about these death eaters and the problems that they were going to have to face.

S

A man with blond hair, long and silky, attached to pale skin and light grey eyes, dressed in black robes and carrying a cane stood in the center of a warehouse. In a former life his name was Lucius Malfoy. He had been captured and sent to Azkaban. His cellmate had been a nice blood-sucking fiend named Benjamin. Benny told Lucius about a plan concocted by one of the only vampires to fight beside the slayer and still be alive. Ben told Lucius about the fight, and about how to stay young forever, and about how he could have super strength and his wizarding ability. Ben had then turned Lucius. Upon waking, Lucious had killed Ben and the two guards standing watch over Azkaban that night…Stupid Ministry, thinking that two Aurors were enough to contain a man how Lucius strength and intellect.

"We have been in Sunnydale for three months, and have yet to encounter the slayer." Lucious calmly pointed out.

"She's out there. Remember I know where she lives. I know how she works. I know her friends. I know her family. I was once." A tall man with short brown hair and dressed in military garb moved stealthily across the room. "She doesn't know about me yet. She doesn't know about us, or about our plans. She knows nothing. It stays that way." The man's face changed and he growled. "I'm going to go get something to eat. Check on the troops." With that he turned away and left the building

Lucius stood before two doors: One painted green and the other painted black. "Time to check on the kiddees…"

PART FOUR

The semester was back in full swing, and the end of the year was approaching fast. Willow and the Scoobies were no closer to finding an answer. As Willow had found nothing at Hogwarts to indicate that this was in anyway connected to the wizarding world, Professor Snape was not convinced that this was actually a problem. After all, they hadn't seen any Death Eaters while in Sunnydale. Professor Snape continued to avoid Willow, and Willow continued to not notice.

The week before summer leave was to begin, Albus called Willow and Snape into his office.

"Willow, Severese please sit down. Lemon drop?"

"No thanks."

Severus turned his head slightly to indicate a negative answer.

"Miss Rosenburg, I assume that you will be returning to Sunnydale for the summer."

"Of course Headmaster. That is where my friends and family are, and, of course, we have the newest big bad approaching."

"Yes, about that, I want to send you help. Severus, I was hoping that you could accompany our DADA professor to her hometown to defend it against evil."

"But Headmaster, I have obligations. I have reseach and lesson plans and…"

"Ah, but Severus, there will be no reason to do any of those things if there is no world."

"But sir…"

"Now, Severus, I think that this would be for the best."

"Headmaster," Willow interrupted what could only prove to be a circular argument. "With all due respect, my friends and I have defeated a lot of different apocalypse situations; if Professor Snape does not want to come and help save the world, he should not have to. It can and will be done without him."

"Be that as it may, Miss Rosenburg. The Order feels that someone should accompany you and the only person not currently in Auror work is Severus, and me, of course, but I do not think that I could easily blend in with muggle society. Severus needs to go with you."

Severus stood up. "I must go and prepare my things." He swept out of the room. (His version of crossing his arms and pouting when he knows he has lost a battle.)

Willow looked at the door way worriedly. "Headmaster, there really is no reason for him to come."

"Willow. Thing are not always what they seem. Severus is needed in Sunnydale, if you are in Sunnydale. Lemon drop?"

As Willow left the office and started the trek to her rooms she thought about lemon drops. Why does that man continuously offer people lemon drops, when they constantly refuse them? Is he perhaps that forgetful…or is it something else?

She shook her head to clear it. People had told her that the Headmaster was a bit batty, and she couldn't agree with them more. It would be great to get back to Sunnydale for awhile. She really missed her friends; life was going great, but Willow knew what that meant, something was coming.

Severus Snape was mad. If he could afford it, he would _Inceino_ all of the items in his house, just to watch them burn. The Headmaster had no right to do this to him. No right! He was a grown man; he did not need another master. He was himself and no one had the right to tell him what to do with his free time.

"He had to make it Order business. He couldn't just let it be; could he? Oh no. Where ever that blasted man wants me he gets me to be."

The stoic potions master just wanted to scream aloud. He wanted the entire castle to feel the rage that he was feeling. He had to spend a significant chunk of his summer with Willow. With the woman he was trying to avoid. He only had three more years to go! But evidently that was unacceptable to the Headmaster. Albus wanted him in Sunnydale, so to Sunnydale he would go.

"Damn sunshine," Severus spat, as he magicked a black longsleeve shirt into his trunk. "Damn California; and damn Willow Rosenburg."

S

"The plan is nearly finished." If Lucius had been talking to the Dark Lord, he would have added a my lord to the end of that sentence; however, he was not. He was talking to some punk-ass kid, who had gotten vamped and has now decided to go after the slayer. The only reason Luscious felt the need to allow this plan to continue was because it just might work. Lucius was never one to get his hands dirty—even dead. He would allow this plan to come to fruition, and then he would kill this imbecile little boy, who thought he had an army of death eaters at his fingertips.

"Yo, Luc. You got the game plan for your people? My people are set. We fight tomorrow."

S

Willow didn't know what it was she was supposed to do about Severus. Sure he was tall, dark, and creepy, but he was also kinda hot. She had been afraid of him, and she still was kind of, but obviously he wasn't going to hurt her. In all the time that she'd known him, he'd never hurt anyone. His past was his past. She was not afraid of him because of his past; she was afraid of him because every time she saw him she got butterflies in her stomach. She knew that he didn't feel the same way, and it didn't matter anyway because she was only going to be at Hogwarts for another three years, and while anything could happen in three years, she knew that Severus was not going to give up Hogwarts for a demon riddled town in Sunnydale. This was her home, and Hogwarts was him. Willow pushed all of those thoughts down into the deepest dark pit of her mind, where all the other ones she had had through the past year had been pushed. She was not going to worry about this now. 

She and Severus had arrived in Sunnydale a week ago, and they were no closer to finding the answers to this crisis. Buffy and Spike both were getting restless—actually it was more than that. They'd almost decided that the problem didn't exist. Neither one of them were very patient. Willow thought that maybe she should have just talked to Giles about all of this, and left Buffy out of the loop until closer to slaying time.

The chime over the magic box jangled loudly. Buffy and Spike walked in.

"Something is up," Buffy proclaimed loudly. "There were no vamps."

"None at all?"

"None. It wasn't just quiet—there were literally no vamps, but that is not all, there were no demons either. Willy's was closed, and that's not normal. Something is coming. I want to know what; I want to know when, and I want to know how many."

"Little girl. You must learn patience." Severus couldn't take it anymore. These kids were driving him insane. They thought that all the answers would just fall into their laps. He was just as frustrated as everyone else, and he had a new-found respect for Giles. How that man could put up with all of their trivialities was beyond him. "The answers will come."

Giles took off his glasses and began to polish them on the edge of his shirt. "This silence is unnatural. There has to be something…Let me see that prophesy again."

Giles slid the book from the center of the table and hunched over it. "Oh dear."

"What? What is it? Are they attacking tonight, or something?" Xander laughed.

Giles didn't answer and the room went quite.

"Yes."


End file.
